COMMENTS MADE BY POPE BENEDICT XVI

First, everything I discuss here isn't related to religion. Trust me, I'm extremely open about my life, much more so than most public figures. What you won't find is profanity or blatantly sexual content.

Lately, several things have happened that made me want to express my feelings about certain topic related to religion, most of them current events. I welcome your comments, and you can email me from my regular website: www.nancytrosenberg.com.

For all those who have signed up to receive emails when I post new material, which is frequent, you should be aware that I use a lot of photographs and am highly prolific. The pictures are personal snippets from my life. When you put them all together, you should know me. Also, no one else is writing this blog but me, and I'm the only one who reads and answers my email. I love it when people write, saying, "Whoever is reading this, make sure Nancy sees it," as if I have dozens of employees. There's only one person here and that's me. If you send me a book to autograph, I'm the one who packs it up and sends it back. The same goes for the out of print books I offer for sale on my website, all of which were New York Times Bestsellers. The primary reason I'm willing to part with these books is so other people can enjoy my earlier novels in hardback. I also need to free up some room in my garage. If you don't want to buy them from me, check out http://amazon.com as they have a number of used copies for sale at a very low cost. Mine are all in hardcover in perfect condition and autographed. The main thing is for you to read and enjoy them.

Now -- what's on my mind this evening.


John Paul II was a hard act to follow, and I have to admit, I was so saddened by his death that I haven't been paying much attention to Pope Benedict. I do read the newsletter published free of charge daily by the Vatican News Agency. (http://www.vatican.va)

Regardless of your faith, I've found great wisdom and inspiration on these pages. I knew the new Holy Father formerly as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Within the past week, Pope Benedict made a huge impression on me by some of the changes he is making at the Vatican, some of beautiful ways he described God, but mostly because he addressed the issue of violence being committed in the name of God. His comments have caused a major uproar within the Muslim community, which is unfortunate, as he was only quoting from a medieval test.

Read more about this story: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/Europe/09/17/pope.islam/index.html. I have been depending on CNN exclusively for news since the Gulf War.

Do you realize what a tragedy it would be if a terrorist, God forbid, were to attack the Vatican? In addition to the loss of lives, the Vatican owns and warehouses the greatest collection of art in the world. Everyone knows about the Sistine Chapel, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. The sculpture halls are so crowded with priceless pieces, its hard to walk. In case you don't know, the Vatican has never been attacked. Some people say one of the reasons is they were Nazi sympathizers during the war. Whether that's true or not, I cannot say. Someone did shoot John Paul II, another reason why I had such great respect for him and the remarkable things he accomplished during his papacy. He even forgave the man who shot him. If the Vatican were attacked, the global response might be too frightening to consider.

The larger issue on all of our minds is how are we going to solve the problems in the middle east? I think we should create a city or country where people who are leaning toward terrorism could live if they swore, under penalty of death, that they would maintain peace and harmony. We'd give them a nice house, a new car, well paying jobs. They would have the opportunity to attend colleges and develop various skills, to worship their religion freely. Although I'm trying to insert humor into a seemingly unsolvable problem, I keep telling myself that these people wouldn't want to blow themselves up if they had more reasons to live. Sometimes the most complex situations are unblievably simple.

I mentioned a movie in an earlier post that people could learn a great deal from called Paradise Now. You can rent it, or purchase it at http://amazon.com. I buy a lot of my movies used for a few dollars. Please, don't bypass this important film because it's in Arabic with subtitles. The acting is great, and the story is profound. When it was released, it received excellent reviews. We must understand these misguided people who want to kill us and themselves, and this film will give you much needed insight.